Tablet-arm chair.



A. A. LYTLE.

TABLET ARM CHAIR. i APPLIOATIGN FILED MAY 6.1909.

955,523. Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AALTON A. LYTLE, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN SEATING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

TABLET-ARM CHAIR.

To aZZ whom it' may concern:

Be it known that I, ALTON A. LYTLE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Grand Rapids, county of Kent, and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tablet-Arm Chairs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying the same and forming a. part thereof.

My invention relates to improvements in tablet arm-chairs.

The object of my invention is to produce a tablet arm and hinge, simple in construction, and strong', and which is provided with a locking-device which operates to the more securely lock and retain the tablet arm in its operative position as the pressure on, the tablet is increased, together with other features which will be more fully shown in the description In the drawings-Figure l is a side elevation of a section of a chair, thev tablet and tablet-arm hinge, with the tablet swung upwardly in position to be lowered, and the tablet and tablet-arm shown in dotted lines when lowered in inoperative position.; Fig. 2 is a plan of a section of a chair with the tablet and tablet-arm hinge attached thereto, shown in its operative position; and Fig. 3 is an end view of a section of a chair with the tablet-arm hinge and tablet shown in operative position.

The section of chair l shows a portion of the side standard and the arm of the standard with the hinge portion 2 formed upon the side standard. The hinge portion 2 is arranged to receive the tablet-arm 3 by securing the portion 4f of the tablet-arm upon the portion 2 of the side standard by means of a hinge or pivot. This hinge is made in the usual form and may or may not be a friction hinge, as desired. The outer end of the tablet-arm is provided with two hinge lugs 5, 5, having holes therein through which the pivot-pin 6 may pass. The pivotpin 6 is long enough t0 extend partially through the hinge-member 7 and the hingemember 8, both of which are formed to be attached to the tablet 9 by any suit-able attaching means, such as screws, rivets or the like. The hinge-members 7 and 8 have holes drilled partially through them, as shown in Fig. 2, so that when the pivot-pin Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 6, 1969.

Patented Apr. 19, i910. Serial No. 494,504.

G is inserted in place and the hinge-members 7 and 8 arranged upon its ends, the displacement of the pin 6 is prevented.

The hinge-member 7 is provided with a lug l0 which extends outwardly at approximatelyright angles to it, and has a lip which is arranged to interlock with and bear upon the bottom of the slot ll. The slot ll' is formed in the forwardly projecting portion 2 of the standard l, as indicated in Fig. l. The purpose of arranging the lug l0 to bear upon the bottom of the slot 1l is to interlockingly hold the tablet 9 in its operative horizontal position. The wall l2 of the slot ll forms a stop for the side of the lug l0 to bear against, to prevent the hinge-member 3 from swinging downwardly when the tablet is in a horizontal position.

It will be noted that the lug 10 and the notch ll form a fulcrum, the tablet 9 being one end of the lever, and the hinge-pivot 13 being the other portion of the lever, and that downward pressure upon the top of the tablet 9 serves to transmit the sustaining function of the interlocking parts to the lug l0 and the bottom of the slot 11. This peculiarity of the sustaining lockingdevice is better understood from the view shown in Fig. 3.

This form of chair with tablet-arm is used principally in assembly rooms or recitation rooms of colleges and the like, where the occupant of a chair desires to have a support for writing materials.

In operation, when the person who is to occupy the chair is taking his place in the chair, or getting up from it, the tablet and tablet-arm would preferably occupy the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, and in moving the tablet to an operative position, the first position assumed by the tablet and tablet-arm is that shown in full lines Fig. l. The tablet and tablet-arm are then swung down and interlocked with the notch 1l, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The further operation will be readily understood from the drawings.

Having described my invention, what I claim isl. In a tablet-arm chair, a standard having a hinge-member formed thereon; a tablet supporting arm hinged to said standard; a tablet rotatively hinged to said tablet supporting arm; and means on the standard cooperating with means secured to the tablet for supporting the tablet, and for locking it in operative position.

2. In a tablet-arm support, a standard; a hinge-member formed on said standard; a lug having a notch formed npon the standard; a tablet-arm support l'otatiyely secured to the hinge-member of the Standard; a tablet; hinge-members seenied to the tablet; means for iotatively securing said hingemembei's to the tablet-arm support; and means secured to the tablet for interlocking With the notched lug on the Standard so that the Weight of the tablet will lock it in opei'ative position.

3. In a tablet-arm chair, a standard haying a hinge-member; a tablet and a. tablet 

